Herb Ellis

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Alternative Title:
Mitchell Herbert Ellis

Herb Ellis, (Mitchell Herbert Ellis), American jazz artist (born Aug. 4, 1921, Farmersville, Texas—died March 28, 2010, Los Angeles, Calif.), played graceful, lyrical guitar as a soloist and accompanied singers and jazz combos with buoyant swing. Ellis was one of several outstanding Charlie Christian-influenced guitarists who emerged in the 1940s. He played in the Soft Winds trio (1947–52) but created his most noted work in the Oscar Peterson Trio (1953–58), which toured internationally in Jazz at the Philharmonic; he also accompanied such stars as Billie Holiday, Lester Young, and Louis Armstrong. In the 1960s, besides accompanying singer Ella Fitzgerald (1958–62), Ellis worked in bands on television shows, including those of Steve Allen and Regis Philbin. From 1972 Ellis toured and recorded on his own, in small groups, with fellow guitarist Joe Pass, and most popularly with Barney Kessel and Charlie Byrd in the Great Guitars trio, which they formed in 1973.